MINNEAPOLIS — People reference “playoff atmospheres” during the regular season more than they probably should.

But Saturday’s 2024 WNBA Finals rematch between the Liberty and Lynx was a rare exception.

How important a win was to each team — playing without their respective stars and team connectors — was palpable.

The well-rested Lynx, who hadn’t played a game since Sunday, wanted to reiterate that they are the best team in the league and continue their revenge tour against the team that beat them in October.

The Liberty wanted to correct their mistakes of previous games and maintain their spot in the league standings.

Natasha Cloud of the Liberty drives to the basket during the game against the Lynx on Aug. 16. NBAE via Getty Images

The fans were engulfed by the drama.

Of course, games don’t come down to one possession or basket.

They shouldn’t come down to officiating, either.

But the travel-weary and shorthanded Liberty’s 86-80 loss to the Lynx on Saturday was a frustrating end to the best game New York has played since Breanna Stewart went down with an injury July 26.

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With under a minute left and the Lynx up by one, a high pick-and-roll for Courtney Williams resulted in a Liberty defensive breakdown that the Lynx exposed.

As Alanna Smith rolled to the rim, Leonie Fiebich went to guard Smith in the paint, leaving Kayla McBride wide open.

Jonquel Jones was slow getting to McBride, whom Williams fed for the 3 that built the Lynx lead to four with 31.9 seconds left and sent the Target Center crowd into a frenzy.

Sabrina Ionescu of the New York Liberty drives to the basket during the game against the Minnesota Lynx on August 16, 2025 at Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. NBAE via Getty Images

Fiebich’s bucket trimmed it to two.

Natasha Cloud missed a layup that would’ve made it a one-point game.

The Lynx ended the game on a 12-2 run.

Even with the Liberty fouling to stop the clock late, it’s hard not to acknowledge the free-throw discrepancy.

Jonquel Jones of the New York Liberty rebounds the ball during the game against the Minnesota Lynx on August 16, 2025 at Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. NBAE via Getty Images

The Lynx attempted 33 free throws to the Liberty’s eight.

It’s the second-largest free-throw margin this season.

But even when the calls weren’t going their way, the Liberty didn’t allow it to impact their focus, which is a sign of improvement.

“It is frustrating because you mentioned the free-throw difference, it’s just insane,” Kennedy Burke said. “But we have to be more aggressive to attack the basket and make them make those calls. So at the end of the day, we have to control what we can control and that’s our energy and attitude for 40 minutes.”

The Liberty trailed by as many as 15 points in the first half but trimmed the Lynx lead to five at halftime.

New York Liberty forward Leonie Fiebich (13) controls the ball as Minnesota Lynx guard Courtney Williams (10) defends during the first quarter at Target Center. Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

New York punched first out of the break, rattling off a 6-0 run to take its first lead of the game.

But the Liberty’s fatigue set in as the game wore on, and in the end, their late-game execution wasn’t sharp.

“It was maybe a lapse of like two minutes there in the fourth,” said Sabrina Ionescu, who had 13 points and 10 assists. “We’re continuing to close the gap… We’re continuing to grow and build and, I mean, it’s tough to win a game with shooting eight free throws in this league, they’re too good of a defensive team… There’s so many factors that play into winning or losing games. And I’d say we just controlled the things that we could and obviously didn’t focus on the things outside of our control like the players that we don’t have and the free throws that we didn’t get.”

The Liberty (21-13) remained in third place after the loss.

They have yet to beat the top-seeded Lynx (28-5) in each of their first three meetings this season.

The final 2024 Finals rematch of this season is scheduled for Tuesday at Barclays Center.

“We got to just continue to get better every single game and I think we’ve done that,” Ionescu said. “It’s been a long month on the road and for us to get back home in front of our crowd and we owe them from the last game that we played the Lynx at home.”